BEAWebLogic Server®

Introduction to BEA WebLogic Server and BEA WebLogic Express™

Version 9.0Revised: July 22, 2005

CopyrightCopyright © 2005 BEA Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

Introduction to WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express iii

Contents

1. Introduction to BEA WebLogic Server and BEA WebLogic Express

The WebLogic Server Solution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

BEA WebLogic Express™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

Programming Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

High Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

System Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Diagnostic Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

BEA JRockit JVM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

Client Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6

Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6

Integration with Other Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6

Integration with Web Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6

Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6

WebLogic Server Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6

WebLogic Server API Examples and Sample Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7

BEA dev2dev Web site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7

2. Overview of WebLogic Server System AdministrationChoosing the Appropriate Technology for Your Administrative Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

Summary of System Administration Tools and APIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6

iv Introduction to WebLogic Server and WebLogic Express

SNMP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-9

Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-9

3. Overview of the Administration ConsoleAbout the Administration Console. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-1

Administration Console Online Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-2

Console Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-2

Starting the Administration Console. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-3

Enabling the Administration Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-4

Elements of the Administration Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-4

Change Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-4

Domain Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-5

How do I.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-6

Tool Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-7

Breadcrumb Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-7

System Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-8

Using the Change Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-8

Undoing Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-9

Releasing the Configuration Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-9

How Change Management Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-9

Dynamic and Non-Dynamic Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-10

Viewing Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-10

Deploying Multiple Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-11

Introduction to WebLogic Server 1-1

C H A P T E R 1

Introduction to BEA WebLogic Server and BEA WebLogic Express

The following sections provide a brief overview of BEA WebLogic Server® features and describe how you can use them to create enterprise-ready solutions:

“The WebLogic Server Solution” on page 1-2

“Programming Models” on page 1-2

“High Availability” on page 1-3

“System Administration” on page 1-4

“Diagnostic Framework” on page 1-5

“Security” on page 1-5

“BEA JRockit JVM” on page 1-5

“Client Options” on page 1-6

“Upgrade” on page 1-6

“Integration with Other Systems” on page 1-6

“Integration with Web Servers” on page 1-6

“Next Steps” on page 1-6

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1-2 Introduction to WebLogic Server

The WebLogic Server SolutionBEA WebLogic Server 9.0 is a scalable, enterprise-ready Java Two Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application server. The WebLogic Server infrastructure supports the deployment of many types of distributed applications and is an ideal foundation for building applications based on Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). SOA is a design methodology aimed at maximizing the reuse of application services.

The WebLogic Server 9.0 complete implementation of The Sun Microsystems J2EE 1.4 specification provides a standard set of APIs for creating distributed Java applications that can access a wide variety of services, such as databases, messaging services, and connections to external enterprise systems. End-user clients access these applications using Web browser clients or Java clients. See “Programming Models” on page 1-2.

In addition to the J2EE implementation, WebLogic Server enables enterprises to deploy mission-critical applications in a robust, secure, highly available, and scalable environment. These features allow enterprises to configure clusters of WebLogic Server instances to distribute load, and provide extra capacity in case of hardware or other failures. New diagnostic tools allow system administrators to monitor and tune the performance of deployed applications and the WebLogic Server environment itself. You can also configure WebLogic Server to monitor and tune application throughput automatically without human intervention. Extensive security features protect access to services, keep enterprise data secure, and prevent malicious attacks.

BEA WebLogic Express™

BEA WebLogic Express is a powerful and cost-effective Servlet engine. Use WebLogic Express to quickly develop and launch dynamic Web sites and basic Web applications. See BEA WebLogic Express.

Programming ModelsWebLogic Server provides complete support for the J2EE 1.4 specification. For more information, see the following WebLogic Server programming guides:

Web Applications provide the basic J2EE mechanism for deployment of dynamic Web pages based on the J2EE standards of Servlets and Java ServerPages (JSP). Web Applications are also used to serve static Web content such as HTML pages and image files.

Web Services provide a shared set of functions that are available to other systems on a network and can used as a component of distributed Web-based applications.

High Ava i lab i l i t y

Introduction to WebLogic Server 1-3

XML capabilities include data exchange, and a means to store content independent of its presentation, and more.

Java Messaging Service (JMS) enables applications to communicate with one another through the exchange of messages. A message is a request, report, and/or event that contains information needed to coordinate communication between different applications.

Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) provides pooled access to DBMS resources.

Resource Adapters provide connectivity to legacy and other external enterprise systems.

Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) provide Java objects to encapsulate data and business logic.

Remote Method Invocation (RMI) is the Java standard for distributed object computing, allowing applications to invoke methods on a remote objects locally.

Beehive is an open-source J2EE programming framework designed to make the most difficult J2EE programming tasks easier by using Java metadata annotations.

Security APIs allow you to integrate authentication and authorization into your J2EE applications. You can also use the Security Provider APIs to create your own custom security providers.

WebLogic Tuxedo Connectivity (WTC) provides interoperability between WebLogic Server applications and BEA Tuxedo services. WTC allows WebLogic Server clients to invoke Tuxedo services and Tuxedo clients to invoke EJBs in response to a service request.

Overview of WebLogic Server Application Development describes developer tools and best practices for coding WebLogic Server applications.

For additional programming topics, see the Developing Applications on BEA WebLogic Server® 9.0 topic page.

High AvailabilityThe following WebLogic Server features and tools support the deployment of highly-available and scalable applications:

WebLogic Server clusters provide scalability and reliability for your applications by distributing the work load among multiple instances of WebLogic Server. Incoming requests can be routed to a WebLogic Server instance in the cluster based on the volume of work being processed. In case of hardware or other failures, session state is available to other cluster nodes that can resume the work of the failed node. In addition, you can

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1-4 Introduction to WebLogic Server

implement clusters so that services may be hosted on a single machine with options to migrate the service to another node in the event of failure.

In addition to replicating HTTP session state across servers within a cluster, WebLogic Server can also replicate HTTP session state across multiple clusters, thereby expanding availability and fault tolerance in multiple geographic regions, power grids, and Internet service providers.

Work Managers prioritize work based on rules you define and by monitoring actual runtime performance statistics. This information is then used to optimize the performance of your application. Work Mangers may be applied globally to a WebLogic Server domain or to a specific application component.

Overload protection gives WebLogic Server the ability to detect, avoid, and recover from overload conditions.

Network channels facilitates the effective use of network resources by segregating network traffic into channels based on the type of traffic.

WebLogic Server persistent store is a built-in, high-performance storage solution for WebLogic Server subsystems and services that require persistence. For example, it can store persistent JMS messages or temporarily store messages sent using the Store-and-Forward feature. The persistent store supports persistence to a file-based store or to a JDBC-enabled database.

Store-and-forward services enables WebLogic Server to deliver messages reliably between applications that are distributed across WebLogic Server instances. If the message destination is not available at the moment the messages are sent, either because of network problems or system failures, then the messages are saved on a local server instance, and are forwarded to the remote destination once it becomes available.

Enterprise-ready deployment tools facilitate deployment and migration of applications from the development phase to a production environment.

Production redeployment enables enterprises to deploy a new version of their application without interrupting work in progress on the older version.

System AdministrationSystem administration of a WebLogic Server environment includes tasks such as creating WebLogic Server domains; deploying applications, migrating domains from development environments to production environments; monitoring and configuring the performance of the WebLogic Server domain; and diagnosing and troubleshooting problems. WebLogic Server

Di agnost i c F ramework

Introduction to WebLogic Server 1-5

provides many tools for System Administrators to help with these tasks, including a browser-based Administration Console, the WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST), a scripting language for automation of WebLogic system administration tasks based on Jython, SNMP, the Configuration Wizard, and command-line utilities. See “Choosing the Appropriate Technology for Your Administrative Tasks” on page 2-2 and “Summary of System Administration Tools and APIs” on page 2-6.

Because WebLogic Server’s management system is based on J2EE and other standards, it integrates well with tools used to manage other enterprise software and hardware components. In addition, WebLogic Server implements the J2EE Java Management Extension (JMX) specification, which allows programmatic access to the WebLogic Server management system. Using this API you can create your own administration utilities or automate frequent tasks using Java classes.

Diagnostic FrameworkThe WebLogic Diagnostic Service is a monitoring and diagnostic service that enables you to create, collect, analyze, archive, and access diagnostic data generated by a running server and its deployed applications. This data provides insight into the runtime performance of WebLogic Server instances and deployed applications and enables you to isolate and diagnose faults and performance bottlenecks.

SecurityThe WebLogic Server security architecture provides a comprehensive, flexible security infrastructure designed to address the security challenges of making applications available on the Web. WebLogic security can be used standalone to secure WebLogic Server applications or as part of an enterprise-wide, security management system that represents a best-in-breed security management solution. See Overview of the WebLogic Security Service.

BEA JRockit JVMThe BEA JRockit JVM is a high performance JVM optimized for Intel architectures and developed to ensure reliability, scalability, manageability, and flexibility for Java applications. BEA JRockit JVM optimizes performance of your Java applications on either the Windows or Linux operating system platforms with either 32-bit or 64-bit architectures. BEA JRockit JVM is included with your WebLogic Server installation. See BEA JRockit JVM.

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1-6 Introduction to WebLogic Server

Client OptionsIn addition to support for browser-based Web application clients, WebLogic Server also supports a variety of client types for creating rich GUI applications or simple command line utilities. These client types include: RMI-IIOP, T3, J2SE clients, J2EE thin clients, CORBA/IDL clients, and C++ clients that communicate with BEA Tuxedo. See Programming Stand-Alone Clients.

UpgradeTools and documentation are provided to help you migrate applications implemented on earlier versions of WebLogic Server to the WebLogic Server 9.0 environment. See Upgrading WebLogic Application Environments.

Integration with Other SystemsWebLogic Server provides a variety of tools to integrate your applications with disparate systems. These tools include Web Services, Resource Adapters, the Messaging Bridge, and RMI.

Integration with Web ServersPlug-ins are provided with your WebLogic Server installation that allow WebLogic Server to operate with Web servers from Apache, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems. Typically, these Web servers serve static HTML content while requests for dynamic Web content such as JSPs are directed to the WebLogic Server environment. See Using Web Server Plug-Ins with WebLogic Server.

Next StepsThis section describes additional resources for learning about WebLogic Server.

WebLogic Server DocumentationA complete set of documentation is available on BEA’s e-docs Web site. This documentation includes programming guides, API references, Javadocs, tutorials, system administrator documentation, and general overviews of WebLogic Server technologies. See WebLogic Server 9.0 Documentation.

Next S teps

Introduction to WebLogic Server 1-7

WebLogic Server API Examples and Sample ApplicationCode examples demonstrating J2EE APIs and other WebLogic Server features are provided with your WebLogic Server installation. To work with these examples, select the default installation options when installing WebLogic Server, or select the WebLogic Server examples during advanced installation. To access the code examples, start the WebLogic Server Examples domain using the WebLogic Examples Server entry in the Windows Start menu, or launch the startWebLogicEx.cmd or startWebLogicEx.sh script in following directory within your WebLogic Server installation: /weblogic90/samples/domains/wl_server. As they become available, you can also download additional examples.

In addition, a complete sample application also provided with your WebLogic Server installation. Avitek Medical Records (or MedRec) is a WebLogic Server sample application suite that concisely demonstrates all aspects of the J2EE platform. MedRec is designed as an educational tool for all levels of J2EE developers. It showcases the use of each J2EE component, and illustrates best practice design patterns for component interaction and client development. MedRec also illustrates best practices for developing applications on WebLogic Server.

To launch the Medical Records Application, select Start Medical Records Server from the Windows Start menu or run the startWebLogic.sh script from the following directory within your WebLogic Server installation: /weblogic90/samples/domains/medrec.

BEA dev2dev Web siteBEA dev2dev is a Web site designed “by developers, for developers” and contains articles, white papers, code examples, newsgroups, blogs and other resources to help you learn more about WebLogic Server.

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1-8 Introduction to WebLogic Server

Introduction to WebLogic Server 2-1

C H A P T E R 2

Overview of WebLogic Server System Administration

System administration of WebLogic Server includes a wide range of tasks: creating WebLogic Server domains; deploying applications; migrating domains from development environments to production environments; monitoring and managing the performance of the runtime system; and diagnosing and troubleshooting problems. (A WebLogic Server domain is a collection of WebLogic Server services designed for a specific purpose. For example, you might create one domain to provide an employee portal and another domain to provide business services to your customers.)

Because the WebLogic Server management system is based on J2EE and other standards, it integrates with systems that are frequently used to manage other software and hardware components. In addition, WebLogic Server includes several of its own standards-based, extensible utilities. Alternatively, you can use API to create custom management utilities.

The following sections provide an overview of system administration for the WebLogic Server component of your development or production environments:

“Choosing the Appropriate Technology for Your Administrative Tasks” on page 2-2

“Summary of System Administration Tools and APIs” on page 2-6

“SNMP” on page 2-9

“Licensing” on page 2-9

For information about installing WebLogic Server, see the Installation Guide.

Overv iew o f WebLog ic Se rve r Sys tem Admi nis t rat ion

2-2 Introduction to WebLogic Server

Choosing the Appropriate Technology for Your Administrative Tasks

Table 2-1 describes common system administration tasks and associated technologies.

Table 2-1 Choosing the Appropriate Management Technology

To do this... Use this technology...

Create domains The Configuration Wizard guides you through the process of creating or extending a domain for your target environment. See Creating WebLogic Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

To automate the creation of domains, use the WebLogic Scripting Tool, which is a command-line scripting interface based on Jython. See Creating and Configuring WebLogic Domains Using WLST Offline in WebLogic Scripting Tool.

Or create domain configuration XML files that conform to the WebLogic Server schema. See Domain Configuration Files in Understanding Domain Configuration.

Migrate domains from development environments to production environments

Domain Template Builder’s pack command archives a snapshot of a domain into a JAR file. The unpack command expands the archive and creates the necessary start scripts and certain security and configuration files. See Creating Templates and Domains Using the pack and unpack Commands.

Track changes in a domain’s configuration

In environments that you allow configuration changes to active domains, WebLogic Server automatically maintains a versioned archive of configuration files. See Configuration File Archiving in Understanding Domain Configuration.

To receive real-time notifications that a domain’s configuration has been modified, enable the configuration auditing feature. See Configuring the WebLogic Auditing Provider in Securing WebLogic Server.

For tightly controlled production environments, configure the runtime domain to be read-only (see Restricting Configuration Changes in Understanding Domain Configuration). You can change the read-only setting if you need to roll in changes that have been tested and approved in a staging environment, or you can modify and test your staging environment, and then use a Web server to re-route requests from your production environment to the staging environment.

Configure connections to Web servers

Web server plug-ins. See Overview of Using Web Server Plug-Ins With WebLogic Server in Using Web Server Plug-Ins with WebLogic Server.

Choos ing the Appropr ia te Techno logy fo r Your Admin ist ra t ive Tasks

Introduction to WebLogic Server 2-3

Configure connections to databases or other systems

Within individual applications, you can define your own data sources or database connections using JDBC, or connect to external systems using resource adapters. When you deploy such an application, WebLogic Server creates the data sources and connections for you. See:

• Configuring WebLogic JDBC Resources in Configuring and Managing WebLogic JDBC

• Understanding Resource Adapters in Programming WebLogic Resource Adapters

If you have not defined your own data sources or connections within an application, you can use the Administration Console or the WebLogic Scripting Tool to create the resources. See Administration Console Help or Using the WebLogic Scripting Tool in WebLogic Scripting Tool.

Manage the server life cycle

The Node Manager is a utility for remote control of Managed Servers. It runs separately from WebLogic Server and enables you to start up and shut down Managed Servers. While use of Node Manager is optional, it provides additional life cycle benefits if your WebLogic Server environment hosts applications with high availability requirements. See Using Node Manager to Control Servers in Managing Server Startup and Shutdown.

To start Administration Servers, or to start Managed Servers without using Node Manager, use scripts that WebLogic Server installs. See Starting and Stopping Servers in Managing Server Startup and Shutdown.

Modify or add services to an active domain

The WebLogic Server Administration Console provides a graphical user interface for modifying or adding services to an active domain. See Administration Console Help.

If you prefer a command-line interface, use the WebLogic Scripting Tool in interactive mode. See Using the WebLogic Scripting Tool in WebLogic Scripting Tool.

Monitor application server services and resources

Monitor the performance of services such as the EJB container, servlet container, and JDBC data sources from the WebLogic Server Administration Console.

If you use SNMP in your operations center, you can enable WebLogic Server to send SNMP trap notifications for runtime events that you define. See WebLogic SNMP Management Guide.

Table 2-1 Choosing the Appropriate Management Technology

To do this... Use this technology...

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2-4 Introduction to WebLogic Server

Deploy applications The WebLogic Server Administration Console provides a series of Web-based deployment assistants that guide you through the deployment process. See Administration Console Help.

To automate the deployment of applications, use the WebLogic Scripting Tool. See Deployment Commands in WebLogic Scripting Tool. You can also use the deployment API to write Java programs that deploy applications. See WebLogic Deployment API Developer's Guide.

For information about additional deployment utilities and APIs, see Overview of Deployment Tools in Deploying Applications to WebLogic Server.

Modify applications in an active domain

To modify the configuration of a deployed application, use a text editor or IDE to modify the deployment descriptor. Then either redeploy the application or use the deployment API to upload the modified deployment descriptor and cause the application container to re-read the deployment descriptor.

See Deploying Applications to WebLogic Server.

Monitor activity within applications

Determine which data points you want to monitor and then instrument one or more beans to expose this data through JMX. See Developing Manageable Applications With JMX.

Alternatively, use the WebLogic Server Diagnostics Service to insert instrumentation code into a running application and monitor its methods or monitor transactions that involve the application. Use this technology to discover the cause of problems that cannot otherwise be discovered by scanning the available monitoring metrics. If you determine that the problem is within your application, you can prevent the problem from recurring by using JMX to expose attributes that indicate the application’s health state is degrading. See Understanding the WebLogic Diagnostic Framework.

Table 2-1 Choosing the Appropriate Management Technology

To do this... Use this technology...

Choos ing the Appropr ia te Techno logy fo r Your Admin ist ra t ive Tasks

Introduction to WebLogic Server 2-5

Configure and secure administration communications

You can separate administration traffic from application traffic in your domain by enabling the Administration Port. In production environments, separating the two forms of traffic ensures that critical administration operations (starting and stopping servers, changing a server’s configuration, and deploying applications) do not compete with high-volume application traffic on the same network connection.

The Administration Port only accepts communications that use SSL, and therefore secures your administrative requests. See Administration Port and Administrative Channel in Configuring WebLogic Server Environments.

Configure logging and view log files

Many WebLogic Server operations generate logs of their activity. Each server has its own log as well as a standard HTTP access log. These log files can be configured and used in a variety of ways to monitor the health and activity of your servers and applications.

By default, WebLogic Server uses the standard JDK logging APIs to filter and write the messages to log files. See Understanding WebLogic Logging Services in Configuring Log Files and Filtering Log Messages.

Alternatively, you can configure WebLogic Server to use the Jakarta Project Log4j APIs to distribute log messages. See Log4j and the Commons Logging API in Configuring Log Files and Filtering Log Messages.

Table 2-1 Choosing the Appropriate Management Technology

To do this... Use this technology...

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2-6 Introduction to WebLogic Server

Summary of System Administration Tools and APIsWebLogic Server includes several of its own standards-based, extensible utilities that you can use to create, manage, and monitor domains, or you can use WebLogic Server’s management APIs to create custom management utilities.

Table 2-2 describes the utilities that are included with WebLogic Server.

Table 2-2 Management Utilities

Utility Description

Administration Console The Administration Console is a Web application hosted by the Administration Server. Use it to manage and monitor an active domain. The management capabilities include:

• Configuring active domains

• Stopping and starting servers

• Monitoring server health and performance

• Monitoring application performance

• Viewing server logs

Through the Administration Console, system administrators can easily perform all WebLogic Server management tasks without having to learn the JMX API or the underlying management architecture. The Administration Server persists changes to attributes in the config.xml file for the domain you are managing.

See:

• “Starting the Administration Console” on page 3-3

• Administration Console Online Help. (The online help is also available from the Administration Console by clicking on the Help link located in the upper right portion of the console.)

WebLogic Scripting Tool The WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) is a command-line scripting interface that you use to manage and monitor active or inactive WebLogic Server domains. The WLST scripting environment is based on the Java scripting interpreter Jython. In addition to WebLogic scripting functions, you can use common features of interpreted languages, including local variables, conditional variables, and flow control statements. You can extend the WebLogic scripting language by following the Jython language syntax. See http://www.jython.org.

See WebLogic Scripting Tool.

Summary o f Sys tem Admi nis t rat i on Too ls and AP Is

Introduction to WebLogic Server 2-7

Configuration Wizard The Configuration Wizard creates the appropriate directory structure for a WebLogic Server domain, a config.xml file, and scripts you can use to start the servers in your domain. The wizard uses templates to create domains, and you can customize these templates to duplicate your own domains.

You can also use the Configuration Wizard to add or remove services from an existing, inactive domain.

You can run the Configuration Wizard through a graphical user interface (GUI) or in a text-based command line environment. This command line environment is called console mode—do not confuse this mode with the Administration Console. You can also create user-defined domain configuration templates for use by the Configuration Wizard.

See Creating WebLogic Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

Configuration Template Builder

The Configuration Template Builder provides the capability to easily create your own domain templates, to enable, for example, the definition and propagation of a standard domain across a development project, or to enable the distribution of a domain along with an application that has been developed to run on that domain. The templates you create with the Configuration Template Builder are used as input to the Configuration Wizard as the basis for creating a domain that is customized for your target environment. See Creating Templates Using the Domain Template Builder.

Apache Ant tasks You can use two Ant tasks provided with WebLogic Server to help you perform common configuration tasks in a development environment. Ant is a Java-based build tool similar to Make.The configuration tasks enable you to start and stop WebLogic Server instances as well as create and configure WebLogic Server domains. When combined with other WebLogic Ant tasks, you can create powerful build scripts for demonstrating or testing your application with custom domains.

See Using Ant Tasks to Configure a WebLogic Server Domain in Developing Applications for WebLogic Server.

Table 2-2 Management Utilities

Utility Description

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2-8 Introduction to WebLogic Server

Table 2-3 describes APIs that you can use to create your own management utilities.

Table 2-3 Management APIs

API Description

JMX Java Management Extensions (JMX) is the J2EE solution for monitoring and managing resources on a network. Like SNMP and other management standards, JMX is a public specification and many vendors of commonly used monitoring products support it.

The Administration Console, WebLogic Scripting Tool, and other WebLogic Server utilities use the JMX APIs.

See Developing Custom Management Utilities with JMX.

J2EE Management API The J2EE Management APIs (JSR-77) enable a software developer to create a single Java program that can discover and browse resources, such as JDBC connection pools and deployed applications, on any J2EE Web application server. The APIs are part of the J2EE Management Specification, which requires all J2EE Web application servers to describe their resources in a standard data model.

See Monitoring and Managing with the J2EE Management APIs.

Deployment API The WebLogic Server deployment API implements and extends the JSR-88 deployment specification. All WebLogic Server deployment tools, such as the Administration Console and wldeploy Ant task, use the deployment API to configure, deploy, and redeploy applications in a domain. You can use the deployment API to build your own WebLogic Server deployment tools, or to integrate WebLogic Server configuration and deployment operations with an existing JSR-88-compliant tool.

See Programming the WebLogic Server Deployment API in Deploying Applications to WebLogic Server.

SNMP

Introduction to WebLogic Server 2-9

SNMPWebLogic Server includes the ability to communicate with enterprise-wide management systems using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). The WebLogic Server SNMP capability enables you to integrate management of WebLogic Servers into an SNMP-compliant management system that gives you a single view of the various software and hardware resources of a complex, distributed system.

See:

WebLogic SNMP Management Guide

WebLogic Server MIB Reference

LicensingWebLogic Server requires a valid license to function. An evaluation copy of WebLogic Server is enabled for a limited time period so you can start using WebLogic Server immediately. To use WebLogic Server beyond the evaluation period, contact your salesperson about further evaluation or purchasing a license for each IP address on which you intend to use WebLogic

WebLogic Diagnostic Service APIs

The WebLogic Diagnostic Service includes a set of standardized APIs that enable dynamic access and control of diagnostic data, as well as improved monitoring that provides visibility into the server. The interfaces are standardized to facilitate future enhancement and integration of third-party tools, while maintaining the integrity of the server code base. The service is well suited to the server and the server’s stack product components and targets operations and administrative staff as primary users.

See Understanding the WebLogic Diagnostic Framework.

Logging APIs By default, WebLogic Server uses the standard JDK logging APIs to filter and write the messages to log files. See Understanding WebLogic Logging Services in Configuring Log Files and Filtering Log Messages.

Alternatively, you can configure WebLogic Server to use the Jakarta Project Log4j APIs to distribute log messages. For more information, see Log4j and the Commons Logging API in Configuring Log Files and Filtering Log Messages.

Table 2-3 Management APIs

API Description

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2-10 Introduction to WebLogic Server

Server. All WebLogic Server evaluation products are licensed for use on a single server with up to 5 connections to the server.

If you downloaded WebLogic Server from the BEA Web site, your evaluation license is included with the distribution. The WebLogic Server installation program allows you to specify the location of the BEA home directory, and installs a BEA license file, license.bea, in that directory.

See Preparing For Your Installation in the Installation Guide.

Understanding Domain Configuration 3-1

C H A P T E R 3

Overview of the Administration Console

For detailed information on using the Administration Console, See the Administration Console Online Help, or click Help from any Administration Console screen.

The following sections provide an overview of the BEA WebLogic Server Administration Console:

“About the Administration Console” on page 3-1

“Starting the Administration Console” on page 3-3

“Elements of the Administration Console” on page 3-4

“Using the Change Center” on page 3-8

About the Administration ConsoleThe BEA WebLogic Server Administration Console is a Web browser-based, graphical user interface that you use to manage a WebLogic Server domain. A WebLogic Server domain is a logically related group of WebLogic Server resources that you manage as a unit. A domain includes one or more WebLogic Servers and may also include WebLogic Server clusters. Clusters are groups of WebLogic Servers instances that work together to provide scalability and high-availability for applications. You deploy and manage your applications as part of a domain.

One instance of WebLogic Server in each domain is configured as an Administration Server. The Administration Server provides a central point for managing a WebLogic Server domain. All other WebLogic Server instances in a domain are called Managed Servers. In a domain with only a single WebLogic Server instance, that server functions both as Administration Server and

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3-2 Understanding Domain Configuration

Managed Server. The Administration Server hosts the Administration Console, which is a Web application accessible from any supported Web browser with network access to the Administration Server. Managed Servers host applications.

Use the Administration Console to:

Configure, start, and stop WebLogic Server instances

Configure WebLogic Server clusters

Configure WebLogic Server services, such as database connectivity (JDBC) and messaging (JMS)

Configure security parameters, including managing users, groups, and roles

Configure and deploy your applications

Monitor server and application performance

View server and domain log files

View application deployment descriptors

Edit selected runtime application deployment descriptor elements

Administration Console Online HelpThe Administration Console includes a complete help system. It has two parts:

How do I...?, which documents procedures for tasks you can perform through using the console

Administration Console Reference, which provides reference information for each page in the Console, including descriptions of the attributes you can set using the console.

You can access the Administration Console online help either through the console itself, or online at http://e-docs.bea.com/wls/docs90/ConsoleHelp/index.html.

Console ErrorsMessages (including information, warning, and error messages) can be generated and logged in the course of using the Administration Console. You can view WebLogic Server logs from the Diagnostics > Log Files page of the console.

Star t ing the Admini st ra t ion Console

Understanding Domain Configuration 3-3

Starting the Administration ConsoleThis section contains instructions for starting the Administration Console.

To use the Administration Console, use one of the supported Web browsers for your environment. See Browser Support for the WebLogic Server Console. If your Web browser is not on this list of supported browsers, you may experience functional or formatting problems when using the Administration Console.

To start the Administration Console:

1. Start an Administration Server.

2. Open one of the supported Web browsers and open the following URL:

http://hostname:port/console

where hostname is the DNS name or IP address of the Administration Server and port is the listen port on which the Administration Server is listening for requests (port 7001 by default). If you have configured a domain-wide Administration port, use that port number. If you configured the Administration Server to use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) you must add s after http as follows:

https://hostname:port/console

Note: A domain-wide administration port always uses SSL.

3. When the login page appears, enter the user name and the password you used to start the Administration Server (you may have specified this user name and password during the installation process) or enter a user name that belongs to one of the following security groups: Administrators, Operators, Deployers, or Monitors. These groups provide various levels of access to system administration functions in the Administration Console.

Using the security system, you can add or delete users to one of these groups to provide controlled access to the console.

Note: If you have your browser configured to send HTTP requests to a proxy server, then you may need to configure your browser to not send Administration Server HTTP requests to the proxy. If the Administration Server is on the same machine as the browser, then ensure that requests sent to localhost or 127.0.0.1 are not sent to the proxy.

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3-4 Understanding Domain Configuration

Enabling the Administration ConsoleBy default, the Administration Console is enabled. If you disable it, you can re-enable it using the WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST). Start the Administration Server, then invoke WLST and use the following commands:

Listing 3-1 Using WLST to Re-enable the Console

connect("username","password")edit()startEdit()cmo.setConsoleEnabled(true)save()activate()The following attribute(s) have been changed on MBeans which require server re-start.

MBean Changed : com.bea:Name=mydomain,Type=Domain Attributes changed : ConsoleEnabledActivation completed

disconnect()exit()

For information about WLST, see WebLogic Scripting Tool.

Elements of the Administration ConsoleThe Administration Console user interface includes the following panels.

Change CenterThis is the starting point for using the Administration Console to make changes in WebLogic Server. See “Using the Change Center” on page 3-8.

E lements of the Admini st ra t ion Console

Understanding Domain Configuration 3-5

Figure 3-1 Change Center

Domain StructureThis panel is a tree you can use to navigate to pages in the Administration Console. Click any of the nodes in the Domain Structure tree to go to that page. Click a + (plus) icon in the Domain Structure to expand a node and a - (minus) icon to collapse the node.

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3-6 Understanding Domain Configuration

Figure 3-2 Domain Structure

How do I...This panel includes links to online help tasks that are relevant to the current Console page.

E lements of the Admini st ra t ion Console

Understanding Domain Configuration 3-7

Figure 3-3 How do I...

Tool BarThe tool bar at the top of the Console includes the following elements:

Figure 3-4 Tool Bar

Breadcrumb NavigationA series of links that show the path you have taken through the Administration Console’s pages. You can click on any of the links to return to a previously-visited page.

Table 3-1

Tool Bar Element Description

Welcome message Indicates user name with which you have logged into the console.

Connected to: The IP address and port you used to connect to the console.

Home A link to the top page of the console.

Log Out Click to log out of the console.

Preferences A link to a page where you can change some console behavior.

Help A link to the Administration Console Online Help.

Ask BEA A link to BEA’s eSupport Web site.

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3-8 Understanding Domain Configuration

Figure 3-5 Breadcrumb Navigation

System StatusThe System Status panel reports on the number of information, error, and warning messages that have been logged. You can view these messages in the server log files, which you can access from the Administration Console at Diagnostics > Log Files.

Figure 3-6 System Status

Using the Change CenterThe starting point for using the Administration Console to make changes in your WebLogic Server domain is the Change Center. To make any changes using the console, you must:

1. Locate the Change Center in the upper left of the Administration Console screen.

2. Click the Lock & Edit button to lock the configuration edit hierarchy for the domain. This enables you to make changes using the Administration Console.

3. Make the changes you desire on the relevant page of the console. Click Save on each page where you make a change.

4. When you have finished making all the desired changes, click Activate Changes in the Change Center.

Us ing the Change Cente r

Understanding Domain Configuration 3-9

As you make configuration changes using the Administration Console, you click Save (or in some cases Finish) on the appropriate pages. This does not cause the changes to take effect immediately. The changes take effect when you click Activate Changes in the Change Center. At that point, the configuration changes are distributed to each of the servers in the domain. If the changes are acceptable to each of the servers, then they take effect. If any server cannot accept a change, then all of the changes are rolled back from all of the servers in the domain. The changes are left in a pending state; you can then either edit the pending changes to resolve the problem or revert the pending changes.

Undoing ChangesYou can revert any pending (saved, but not yet activated) changes by clicking Undo All Changes in the Change Center. You can revert any individual change by going to the appropriate page in the Administration Console and restoring the attribute to its previous value.

Releasing the Configuration LockYou release the configuration lock as follows:

Before you make changes, click Release Configuration in the Change Center to release the lock explicitly.

After you save changes, click Activate Changes or Undo All Changes in the Change Center to release the lock implicitly.

Stopping the Administration Server does not release the configuration lock. When the Administration Server starts again, the configuration lock is in the same state it was in when the Administration Server was shut down, and any pending changes are preserved.

How Change Management WorksTo provide a secure, predictable means for distributing configuration changes in a domain, WebLogic Server imposes a change management process that loosely resembles a database transaction. The configuration of a domain is represented on the file system by a set of XML configuration files, centralized in the config.xml file, and at runtime by a hierarchy of Configuration MBeans. When you edit the domain configuration, you edit a separate hierarchy of Configuration MBeans that resides on the Administration Server. To start the edit process, you obtain a lock on the edit hierarchy to prevent other people from making changes. When you finish making changes, you save the changes to the edit hierarchy. The changes do not take effect, however, until you activate them, distributing them to all server instances in the domain. When

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3-10 Understanding Domain Configuration

you activate changes, each server determines whether it can accept the change. If all servers are able to accept the change, they update their working configuration hierarchy and the change is completed.

For more information about change management, see Managing Configuration Changes in Understanding Domain Configuration.

Dynamic and Non-Dynamic ChangesSome changes you make in the Administration Console take place immediately when you activate them. Other changes require you to restart the server or module affected by the change. These latter changes are called non-dynamic changes. Non-dynamic changes are indicated in the Administration Console with this warning icon:

Changes to dynamic configuration attributes become available once they are activated, without restarting the affected server or system restart. These changes are made available to the server and runtime hierarchies once they are activated. Changes to non-dynamic configuration attributes require that the affected servers or system resources be restarted before they become effective.

If a change is made to a non-dynamic configuration setting, no changes to dynamic configuration settings will take effect until after restart. This is to assure that a batch of updates having a combination of dynamic and non-dynamic attribute edits will not be partially activated.

Note that WebLogic Server’s change management process applies to changes in domain and server configuration data, not to security or application data.

Viewing ChangesYou can view any changes that you have saved, but not yet activated, by clicking the View Changes and Restarts link in the Change Center. The View Changes and Restarts link presents two tabs, Change List and Restart Checklist:

The Change List tab presents all changes that have been saved, but not yet activated.

The Restart Checklist lists all servers for which non-dynamic changes have been activated, but which require restarts before the changes become effective.

Us ing the Change Cente r

Understanding Domain Configuration 3-11

Deploying Multiple ApplicationsWhen you use the Administration Console to deploy multiple applications, upon installing the applications, they are listed in the Console’s Deployments page in the “distribute Initializing” state. After activating changes, they are listed in the “Prepared” state. To deploy the applications, select the application names on the Deployments page and click Start.

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3-12 Understanding Domain Configuration